After the 1845 completion of the Miami and Erie Canal, Toledo grew quickly; it also benefited from its position on the railway line between New York City and Chicago.

The region was part of a larger area controlled by the historic tribes of the Wyandot and the people of the Council of Three Fires (Ojibwe, Potawatomi, and Odawa).

The Odawa moved from Manitoulin Island and the Bruce Peninsula at the invitation of the French, who established a trading post at Fort Detroit, about 60 miles to the north.

In the Treaty of Detroit (1807), the above four tribes ceded a large land area to the United States of what became southeastern Michigan and northwestern Ohio, to the mouth of the Maumee River (where Toledo later developed).

Resettlement began around 1818 after a Cincinnati syndicate purchased a 974-acre (3.9 km2) tract at the mouth of Swan Creek and named it Port Lawrence, developing it as the modern downtown area of Toledo.

At that time, no highways had been built in the state, and goods produced locally had great difficulty reaching the larger markets east of the Appalachian Mountains.

The last of the Odawa did not leave this area until 1839, when Ottoke, grandson of Pontiac, led his band from their village at the mouth of the Maumee River to Indian Territory in Kansas.

Toledo soon became a hub for several railroad companies and a hotspot for industries such as furniture producers, carriage makers, breweries, and glass manufacturers.

[22] Toledo continued to expand in population and industry, but because of its dependence on manufacturing, the city was hit hard by the Great Depression.

Desegregation, a failed urban renewal project, and the construction of I-75 displaced those residents and left behind a struggling community with minimal resources, even as it also drew more established, middle-class people, white and black, out of center cities for newer housing.

[24] The destruction of many buildings downtown, along with several failed business ventures in housing in the core, which led to a reverse city-suburb wealth problem common in small cities with land to spare.

[26] Many downtown historical buildings such as the Oliver House and Stand-art Lofts have been renovated into restaurants, condominiums, offices and art galleries.

[28] A bloom of toxic blue-green algae had formed directly over Toledo's water intake pipe, which was situated a few miles off shore in Lake Erie.

In 2018, Cleveland-Cliffs, Inc. invested $700 million into an East Toledo location as the site of a new hot-briquetted iron plant, designed to modernize the steel industry.

[35] Toledo is within 250 miles (400 km) by road from seven metropolitan areas that have a population of more than two million people: Detroit, Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Indianapolis, and Chicago.

Harmful blooms of cyanobacteria, or blue-green algae, were extremely bad in the 1960s that Lake Erie was mocked as a dead zone, said to have "No life".

[42] Heightened levels of blue-green algae can affect both human and ecosystem health by causing fish to die, the water to be discolored and foul smelling, and oxygen deficient dead zones may even start to form.

[44] Agricultural runoff dumps phosphorus into the western basin of Lake Erie and acts as a fertilizer for the blue-green algae, and the warmer weather seen in July through October in Northern Ohio helps speed up the growing process.

Owens-Illinois, Owens Corning, Libbey Incorporated, Pilkington North America (formerly Libbey-Owens-Ford), and Therma-Tru have long been a staple of Toledo's economy.

[79] A number of walking tours have been set up to explore these works, which include large sculptures, environmental structures, and murals by more than 40 artists, such as Alice Adams, Pierre Clerk, Dale Eldred, Penelope Jencks, Hans Van De Bovenkamp, Jerry Peart, and Athena Tacha.

[81] Later jazz greats from Toledo include Stanley Cowell, Larry Fuller, Bern Nix and Jean Holden.

Other well-known singers and musicians with Toledo roots include Teresa Brewer, Tom Scholz, Anita Baker, Shirley Murdock, American Idol runner-up Crystal Bowersox, The Rance Allen Group, Lyfe Jennings and Weezer bassist Scott Shriner.

[84] Tony Packo's Cafe is located in the Hungarian neighborhood on the east side of Toledo known as Birmingham; it features hundreds of hot dog buns signed by celebrities, including multiple presidents.

[citation needed] Toledo hosted the International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles (FILA) Congress in 1966, two editions of World Championships (both freestyle and Greco-Roman), seventeen editions of Freestyle Wrestling World Cup, and numerous high-profile international duals were held at the Toledo Field House and Centennial Hall.

The Toledo TV market features seven full power stations, including: WTOL 11 (CBS), WTVG 13 (ABC, with CW on 13.2), WNWO 24 (NBC), PBS outlets WBGU 27 and WGTE 30, WUPW 36 (Fox), and WLMB 40 (Religious independent).

This 400-foot (120 m) tall bridge includes a glass covered pylon, which lights up at night, adding a distinctive feature to Toledo's skyline.

Barons Bus Lines also provides daily trips to Ann Arbor, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Columbus, and Cincinnati.

The Great Depression and growing inter city competition from trucks on newly improved roads by the Ohio caused abandonment of all by 1938, and some interurban lines much earlier.

[126] The popular phrase "Holy Toledo", is thought to originally be a reference to the city's array of grand church designs from Gothic, Renaissance and Spanish Mission.

But when he returned for a 1980 concert, he set a one-show attendance record at the venue, Centennial Hall, and sang the song to the approval of the crowd.